Jamie's War on food waste

Ooh, thanks POGS haven't tried that, will give it a whirl and report back.

Keep an iceberg lettuce for ages by wrapping it in cooking foil and obviously in the fridge. I don't know if that works for other types though.

You can keep lettuce for ages in the fridge as long as you don't cut it first. If you need to take bits off it for use, tear leaves off. Keep it in a plastic bag which needn't be airtight.

I never use a metal knife Ana, always employ the tearing method or use a specially designed implement which is plastic and has a serrated edge. I've tried every method of storing known to man. No joy. I think I'm responsible for a soggy brown lettuce mountain all on my own! Jamie would be horrified.

I never peel any of my veggies, just give them a good rinse.

As for storage, keep them in the refrigerator, last for an absolute age !!

Sorry, crun, didn't get what you meant. The ones I buy loose don't ever seem to be wet, though.

I store them the same way as you, Juliette and yes, they do last for ages. I keep lettuce in a food storage bag in the salad drawer (and never cut with a metal knife!)

crun I dry carrots, parsnips etc. when I get them home, then store loose in the salad drawer of the fridge which I line with a dry tea towel. They keep for ages. I don't have any such success with lettuce though no matter how I store it. Any tips would be very welcome.

Yes, but the boxes are lined with polythene to stop them drying out whilst they're in storage.

Loose carrots don't/shouldn't come in polythene wrapper, crun...

You pick them out of veg boxes yourself.

I can't use a whole bag of carrots before they go off either, but the loose ones are wet when the polythene wrapper is first opened. I have to keep them in a poly bag at home, otherwise they go all soft and bendy.

Must say I have given up buying carrots in bags- as they go off so quickly. Rather pay a little more for buying loose and dry- and keep much longer.

Vote fot fresh misshapen veg and fruit here

"Wouldn't they be the same peeled as unpeeled?"

Probably, I don't know why I peel them really, habit probably. I don't think I could be bothered washing them, but then, I eat fruit without washing it. I've eaten carrots just as they are when I'm on holiday, and don't have a peeler.

No crun Esther is no relation

But S'bury's have no peel carrots in bags. I definitely take their advice.

I would think so.

Does scrapping count?

That Chief Medical Officer for Health bloke did say we should peel all carrots except organic ones.

hilda where I used to live we were in Lions and we used to collect up the good but not sold fresh produce from the local large supermarket for distribution to vulnerable people on low incomes. The problem was this scheme became less and less successful as it became harder to identify who needed/wanted it as all agencies involved said due to confidentiality they could not give us any contact details. The Rotary Club here wanted to do it but ran into the same problem. I think a great deal here goes to the local food bank now.

That is my point really crun.
Wouldnt they be the same peeled as unpeeled?
Either they have chemicals all the way through, or they dont?
[I am not necessarily right by the way].

"My mother used to save weird potatoes and carrots if she thought the shapes would amuse us. "

You're not Esther Rantzen, are you?

"Pesticide residue can linger in the skin. Best to wash them thoroughly or peel them "

I eat a raw carrot with my breakfast every morning, I always peel them, but sometimes they have a very strong chemical taste to them. I assume it must be pesticide or some such agrichemical.

Granjura

My mother used to save weird potatoes and carrots if she thought the shapes would amuse us. As a child I thought it normal to have a duck shaped spud sprouting on the windowsill. Looking back - maybe she was in too much of a hurry to peel them?

She also worked on a cucumber farm just post-war ww2 and even back then they had to sort into different sizes/shapes/straightness. I remember her complaining in the 1960s there was no point and that they were all jumbled together 'these days'

(and raclette - I remember back when I could eat cheese, my daughter crying at the smell of the raclette grill, probably because they were cooking meat and cheese on it - we sent her outside)

back to the veg - I am def a "Peel if not organic" person, however curvy.

Never mind the not quite perfect fruit and veg. My DH works in the local Co-op and he is appalled at the amount of perfectly good fruit and vegetables they throw away just because they are past the sell by date. He said that on Christmas Eve he had to throw away two trays of beautiful bananas, several good pineapples and loads of brussels sprouts. The waste amounted to about £200.
Jamie Oliver - here is your next mission, sort out the supermarket waste!